A blog by Dr. David B. Gowler (Oxford College of Emory University) chronicling the journey of writing a book for Baker Academic on the reception history of the parables of the New Testament Gospels: The Parables after Jesus: Their Imaginative Receptions across Two Millennia.

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Leo Tolstoy and the Parables (part 3)

In Memory of Betty Gowler (December 27, 1931 - January 12, 2016)For as long as I remember, I loved her laugh . . . and making her laugh(Thanks to Nancy Gowler Johnson for a copy of this photo)

The next day Martin keeps looking out his window, because he
wonders whether Jesus might visit him. Once when he looks out the window he
sees Stepanitch, a retired soldier from the Czar’s army who was now so poor
that he did odd jobs in the neighborhood just to make ends meet. Stepanitch was
shoveling snow but had paused to rest, so Martin invites him inside to warm up
and have a cup of tea. As they talk, Martin shares with Stepanitch what the
voice the night before had told him about Jesus coming to visit Martin, as well
as many stories about Jesus. The conversation ends this way:

Stepanitch forgot
his tea. He was a very old man, easily moved to tears, and as he sat and
listened the tears ran down his cheeks.

“Come, drink some more,” said Martin. But
Stepanitch crossed himself, thanked him, and moved away his tumbler, and rose.

“Thank you, Martin
Avdeitch,” he said, “you have given me food and comfort both for soul and
body.”

“You’re very
welcome. Come again another time. I am glad to have a guest,” said Martin (90).

Martin returned to work but kept looking out his window in
anticipation. Soon he saw a peasant woman, dressed in tattered summer garments,
who carried a baby in her arms. Martin asked her to come inside to warm up. As
he fixed the woman some lunch, the woman told him that she had pawned her
winter shawl to buy food. Martin gives her an old cloak to keep her and the
baby warm, and then:

[Martin] told the
woman his dream, and how he had heard the Lord’s voice promising to visit him
that day.

“Who knows? All
things are possible,” said the woman. And she got up and threw the cloak over
her shoulders, wrapping it round herself and round the baby. Then she bowed,
and thanked Martin once more.

“Take this for
Christ’s sake,” said Martin, and he gave her six-pence to get her shawl out of
pawn. The woman crossed herself, and Martin did the same, and then he saw her
out (92).

Martin’s words “for Christ’s sake” foreshadow how the story
will end.

The next post will conclude the story, a story that also reminds me of the kind, faithful, and generous nature of my mother.

A Chorus of Voices: The Reception History of the Parables

My Blog List

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You can also follow these posts on twitter (@dgowler) or contact me privately via email (dgowler@emory.edu). In addition, some of my full-text works are found at: https://emory.academia.edu/DavidGowler

Vincent van Gogh

The Sower, 1888 (photo taken in Amsterdam; 2013)

The Parables After Jesus (the book I created while writing this blog)

WATSA Parables?

WATSA Historical Jesus?

James Through the Centuries

Host, Guest, Enemy, and Friend

French revised edition of WATSA Historical Jesus?

Radical Christian Voices and Practice

Fabrics of Discourse

Includes my chapter on the Quest of the Historical Jesus

Includes my chapter on the Chreia, the Historical Jesus, and the Gospels